Love Letter
by Awesomenesss-sama
Summary: Poppy: Receiving a love poem from a secret admirer has Poppy curious about this secretive troll, but they're not the only one she has a chance with. Branch: Branch didn't know why he did it, it's not like he planned to reveal himself, but with a recent turn of events, maybe he should.
1. Poppy 1

_**First fanfiction in a long time, take it easy on me, I know they're out of character.**_

 _ **This story will have two chapters happening at the same time. For example this chapter will focus on Poppy's day and the next will focus on Branch's day. Technically you could read this entire story from Branch's perspective while skipping Poppy's and still understand everything. Same for reading Poppy's perspective and skipping Branch's.**_

* * *

 **Poppy's perspective**

Poppy was so shocked when she'd looked at her mail and found an unaddressed love poem. Trolls rarely made their love confessions anonymous, they were bold creatures who didn't mind if the object of their affection didn't love them back. Poppy smiled as she read and reread the poem. It was full of cheesy lines that made Poppy melt. The sweet writer had obviously been liking her for a while, she wondered if they would mind if she showed it to her friends, surely they knew what she was like with secrets. Everyone in the village knew how much difficulty Poppy had in the department of secret keeping.

The next day, Poppy held up the poem for her friends to read the purple calligraphy.

"I got it last night" Poppy grinned.

"A love poem from a secret admirer?" Suki gasped.

"Secret admirer?" Satin blinked.

"It's obviously from Creek" Chenille nodded, "the writing is even purple."

"No, no, it's not from Creek" Poppy shook her head, "it's not his style."

"What's not my style?" Creek wondered, walking up to the group.

"Writing anonymous love letters" Suki replied.

"Yeah no, I'd rather send flowers" Creek said.

"See?" Poppy turned to her friends.

"So who's the love poem from then?" Satin asked.

"Love poem?" Creek blinked and read said poem over Poppy's shoulder.

"Yeah, I got it last night, the writer didn't give a name" Poppy suddenly felt uncomfortable, "you're...okay with that, right?"

Everyone knew that Creek had feelings for Poppy.

Creek smiled and nodded, "we're not a couple, it's not my place to feel mad or jealous."

Poppy let out a relieved sigh.

"Now, I gotta go, I have a yoga class to teach" Creek excused himself, "you're welcome to come along."

"No thanks, Creek" Poppy smiled, "maybe next time."

Creek smiled and waved before walking off in the direction of his yoga class. The twins noticed him stomping on every stick he passed.

Poppy sighed, barely noticing Creek leave, "it's such a sweet poem."

The twins shook off Creek's odd mini-tantrum and turned back to Poppy, "We have to find the writer."

"Not many of us write poems" Suki noted, "and the writer wrote in calligraphy, so we cant go by his handwriting."

Poppy nodded, "I'll look into it tomorrow, we still have to get ready for tonight's party."

The others nodded too and the group split up to get ready for their weekly party while Poppy left for Branch's bunker to give him his weekly invitation to it, knowing he was going to refuse as always.


	2. Branch 1

**Branch's perspective**

Branch ran and hid in the shadows. He couldn't believe he'd actually done it, he'd waited until Poppy had left for the village's final hug time of the day and put the poem in Poppy's letterpod. He shoved down the urge to take back the poem before she saw it and bolted for his bunker, hoping he didn't get caught in the biggest hug time of the day.

Safely hidden from the crazy trolls who thought gathering in one place was a good idea, Branch allowed himself to relax.

He'd actually given a love poem to someone. How incredibly cheesy. At least he didn't leave a name, and he was smart enough to use calligraphy instead of his regular handwriting. But still, he'd given into temptation and given _Princess Poppy_ a love poem. It had taken him a week to write that particular poem, and then several more weeks of getting the calligraphy perfect, that included the time he'd spent talking himself out of it then back into it. The worst part of it was he'd combined the colour of Poppy's hair and the original colour of his hair to make the shade of purple that he used for ink. How hopeless could he get?

Hopefully Poppy put the poem aside with the rest of the fanmail he was sure the princess got.

The next day Branch realised that Poppy doesn't ignore significant gestures, and for trolls, a poem was definitely a significant gesture.

"I got it last night" Poppy grinned happily, proudly holding his poem up to her friends. Branch wanted to die where he was hidden in the bushes.

"A love poem from a secret admirer" Suki gasped, Branch buried his head in his hands, thankful that he wasn't out in the open.

"Secret admirer?" Satin blinked.

"It's obviously from Creek" Chenille nodded, "the writing is even purple."

Branch twitched. Of all the people they could have thought the poem was from, they thought it was Creek? Branch doubted that guy even knew how to write.

"No, no, it's not from Creek" Poppy shook her head, Branch sighed in relief, "it's not his style."

"What's not my style?" Branch scowled at the purple troll walking up to the group.

Branch honestly didn't know why he hated Creek so much, but so far Creek hadn't given him any reasons to hate him less so Branch didn't care.

"Writing anonymous love letters" Suki replied.

"Yeah no, I'd rather send flowers" Creek shrugged.

"See?" Poppy said, turning back to her friends.

Branch grumbled to himself. Of course Poppy knew Creek was the type to send flowers. She probably got said flowers every second day. Maybe _he_ should send flowers next time. Wait, next time?

"So who's the love poem from then?" Satin asked.

"Love poem?" Creek blinked and read the poem over Poppy's shoulder.

Great. Now _Creek_ has seen it, could his day get any worse?

"Yeah, I got it last night, the writer didn't give a name" Branch saw Poppy shift uncomfortably, "you're...okay with that, right?"

Creek smiled and nodded, "we're not a couple, it's not my place to feel mad or jealous."

Poppy let out a relieved sigh. Branch groaned, sensing Creek's act. Then Branch remembered that he wasn't the only troll with advanced hearing. Creek's eyes snapped to the bush Branch was hiding in.

"Now, I gotta go, I have a yoga class to teach" Creek acted as if he didn't know Branch was there. "you're welcome to come along."

"No thanks, Creek" Poppy smiled, "maybe next time."

Creek smiled and waved to the group before walking away. Branch scowled when Creek purposefully stomped on every stick he passed, obviously mocking Branch for both his name and the sticks that Branch collected for his bunker.

Branch was tempted to follow Creek and throw sticks at him from the trees when he heard Poppy sigh, "it's such a sweet poem."

The twins hummed in agreement and said "we have to find the writer."

'Not gonna happen.'

"Not many of us write poems" Suki noted, "and the writer wrote in calligraphy, so we cant go by his handwriting."

Poppy nodded to her friend, "I'll look into it tomorrow, we still have to get ready for tonight's party."

Branch froze. The weekly party. Poppy always gave him an invitation the morning before the party. He never accepted it, but he didn't want Poppy to know that he'd been spying on her, he needed to get to the bunker first.

As quietly as he could, Branch crawled out of the bush and bolted home.


	3. Poppy 2

**Poppy's perspective**

Poppy skipped to the small clearing and was about to knock on the hollow stone next to the entrance before realising that the entrance itself was already open and there was something black digging into the dirt around said entrance. Poppy looked down the hole and saw that the elevator was at the bottom floor and Branch was using his hair to stop himself half way. Kind of. Branch was also tangled in his own hair. This happened to younger trolls a lot, but to see it happen to a fully grown troll was amusing.

"Are you okay down there?" Poppy giggled.

She got an annoyed groan in response.

"Here let me help" Poppy laughed, but before she could climb in she was startled by Branch's yelling.

"No! No!" Branch refused.

Confused by his panic, Poppy stood the entrance, "why not?"

"Because...because the bunker is a mess right now!" Branch yelled back.

"Oh come on Branch, I'm not gonna care about a little mess" Poppy rolled her eyes.

"Don't come in." Branch said firmly.

"Fine, fine, do you want me to come back later, or...?" Poppy sat down at the edge of the entrance.

"Could you...uh...send a line down for me to grab?" Branch requested.

Poppy grinned and lengthened her hair until it reached Branch, who used what little free hair he had to latch onto it. When Poppy felt some of his weight tug on her hair she started to slowly pull him back up. Eventually Branch was on the grass outside the entrance trying to untangle himself from his own hair.

"How did that happen?" Poppy giggled.

"I forgot that I'd taken the stairs when I left to collect sticks earlier" Branch grumbled.

Poppy laughed and helped him get untangled.

"Thanks" Branch sighed.

"You're welcome" Poppy grinned, happy to hear something nice from him.

"So, why are you here?" Branch asked.

"Oh, right!" Poppy reached into her hair and brought out the invitation.

"Another party?" Branch raised his eyebrow.

"Yep!" Poppy opened the invitation and a soft tune came out, "we decided on a couples theme this time!"

Branch rolled his eyes as the glitter hit his face, "of all parties, you think I'm going to go to a couples one?"

"Well it's not just couples" Poppy grinned, it wasn't often that he gave her the chance to talk about the party, maybe it was because she helped him, "it's like a valentines day thing, but in autumn!"

"A late valentines day party?" Branch deadpanned.

"Yeah! There's going to be a lot of sweets and chocolate" Poppy saw his ear twitch at chocolate, she tried not to giggle, "I figured the lovey dovey thing wouldn't be your scene, but we've got a quieter playlist planned for this one, and since you're always going on about how loud we usually are I think this will be perfect!"

"I've got a full day planned" Branch refused.

"Of sitting around in your bunker being a mopey mess?" Poppy joked.

"Actually yes." Branch nodded.

"Come on, you don't have to sing or dance or anything if you don't want to, I just want to see you at a party. I can make sure there's extra chocolate if you want, I make some pretty mean triple chocolate brownies" Poppy could see his will breaking right in front of her.

"I have cleaning to do, I'll probably forget" Branch was obviously grasping for straws.

"Well I can come pick you up then! I'll even come a bit late so that you can skip the excitement at the start!" Poppy bounced on the spot a bit.

Branch grumbled and grabbed the invitation, "keep the glitter away from me."

"You got it!" Poppy gave him a thumbs up as he disappeared into the bunker.

Poppy stood there in silence for a full minute before bolting toward the village, the sound of her cheering catching everyone's attention.

"HE'S FINALLY COMING TO THE PARTY!" Poppy screamed, running towards the snack pack.

"What?" Cooper blinked.

"BRANCH IS COMING TO THE PARTY!" Poppy was jumping on the spot.

"Really?!" The snack pack gasped.

"Yeah! I broke him with promises of quieter music, chocolate and a glitterproof area!" Poppy was completely full of energy, her happiness making her bounce at a speed that made her look like she was vibrating, "I have to go and make triple chocolate brownies now! Okay?! Bye!"

And she was gone.


	4. Branch 2

**Branch's perspective**

Branch really hated himself at the moment. He'd been in such a hurry to get home that he'd forgotten to take the back entrance and had nearly fallen to his death, he'd managed to catch himself but in the panicked confusion he'd gotten tangled up. Thankfully Poppy had come to his rescue only a few minutes later.

"Are you okay down there?" Poppy giggled at him.

Branch groaned when he realised that she'd probably be laughing at him getting tangled up like a young troll the entire time.

"Here, let me help."

Branch heard her prepare to climb down and remembered that the bunker was a mess of poems and calligraphy right now, "No! No!"

He heard her stop and sighed in relief, "because...because the bunker is a mess right now!"

"Oh come on Branch, I'm not gonna care about a little mess" he could practically hear her rolling her eyes.

'I'd care.'

"Don't come in." Branch said firmly.

"Fine, fine, do you want me to come back, or...?" he heard her sit at the edge of the entrance and now he was the one rolling his eyes.

Branch thought for a second, "could you...uh...send a line down for me to grab?"

Branch was panicking as he waited, he doubt she'd care too much about it, but trolls linking their hair together was considered an extremely personal act. She just saw him as a friend who needed help. Branch on the other hand was hopelessly in love with her.

'Try not to think about it' Branch thought to himself as her hair reached him and he used the last of his free hair to latch onto it.

Eventually Poppy managed to pull him out, and now Branch was stuck trying to untangle himself while Poppy watched and giggled.

"How did that happen?"

"I forgot that I'd taken the stairs when I left to collect sticks earlier" Branch grumbled.

Poppy laughed and helped him untangle himself. Branch froze the second she touched him.

"Thanks" Branch sighed as his hair went back to it's usual state.

"You're welcome" Branch tried to ignore her grinning from ear to ear.

"So, why are you here?" It was odd that she hadn't tried to give him the invitation while he was tangled up and unable to destroy it.

"Oh, right!" Poppy grabbed the invitation from her hair.

"Another party?" Branch pretended to be surprised.

"Yep!" Poppy opened the invitation and a quiet song played, "we decided on a couples theme this time!"

"Of all parties, you think I'm going to go to a couples one?" Seriously. Why would she think that he'd go to a couples party.

"Well it's not just couples" Poppy grinned, "it's like a valentines day thing, but in autumn!"

"A late valentines day party?" Branch remembered the actual valentines day at the start of the year. They'd nearly caused a forest fire. Poppy probably wanted to make up for that.

"Yeah! There's going to be a lot of sweets and chocolate" Branch felt his ears twitch at chocolate "I figured the lovey dovey thing wouldn't be your scene, but we've got a quieter playlist planned for this one, and since you're always going on about how loud we usually are I think this will be perfect!"

Branch struggled to not smirk, Poppy has no idea how much he likes lovey dovey things, "I've got a full day planned."

"Of sitting around in your bunker being a mopey mess?" Poppy joked.

"Actually, yes" Branch nodded.

"Come on, you don't have to sing or dance or anything if you don't want to, I just want to see you at a party. I can make sure there's extra chocolate if you want, I make some pretty mean triple chocolate brownies."

'Oh no.'

Branch's weakness.

'Triple chocolate brownies?'

"I have cleaning to do, I'll probably forget" Branch realised that all he had left were weak excuses now.

"Well I can come pick you up then! I'll even come a bit late so that you can skip the excitement at the start!"

'She's too perfect' Branch thought as he gave in.

Grumbling, Branch grabbed the invitation, happy to not be breaking it for once, "keep the glitter away from me."

"You got it!" Poppy gave him a thumbs up. He fled before she could so anything else cute.

A full minute later, Branch could hear Poppy running toward the village cheering.

Branch quickly cleaned up his calligraphy and poetry mess and let himself briefly think about the look on Creek's face when he sees Poppy taking him to the party, then Branch got an idea.

Getting out some paper and his calligraphy set, Branch begins to write a note for Poppy.


	5. Poppy 3

**Poppy's perspective**

Poppy was so nervous and excited, it was time to pick Branch up for the party and she hoped things went as well as she'd planned. She'd made sure the snack pack understood that this was one party they couldn't let get out of control.

Standing outside of Branch's bunker, Poppy took a deep breath. She knew she wanted a little more than just partying from Branch, but how would he react if she suggested something like that? Trolls didn't normally hesitate so much in the field of romance, but there was more at stake than a little awkwardness, it was difficult enough to get Branch to come to this party, if she made one wrong move Branch might never leave his bunker again. She'd been in there before, she'd seen how many supplies he had, he definitely could get away with holing himself up in there.

Shaking away any doubt, Poppy jumped forward and started banging on the stone next to the entrance.

"Hey Are you ready to go?" Poppy grinned when the hatch opened.

"...Yeah, I guess" Branch shrugged.

So they started to walk. After a minute or so Branch noticed what Poppy was wearing.

"A new outfit?" Branch looked at her curiously.

Poppy looked down at her outfit and nodded, hoping it wasn't _too_ formal, "yeah, I wanted to try something new since I've never actually gone to a party with a date before."

Branch froze, "a date?"

Poppy froze too and felt her face heat up, she hadn't meant to bring it up like that, trying not to panic, Poppy began to ramble, "well...yeah, I mean, it's a valentines party, sort of, and I invited you and you said yes for once, but it doesn't have to be a date if you don't want! I'm just saying because it's a party involving couples and you're coming to it with me so we're technically going on a date...like I said, it doesn't have to be like that if you don't want it to be!"

"Do _you_ want it to be a date?" Poppy looked over to him and saw him blushing slightly.

Poppy felt her face heat up even more, "maybe a little bit..."

She could hear a small strangled sound come out of his mouth as he continued, "I might want it to be a date too..."

Poppy did her best to stay calm, but, feeling a little bold, Poppy slid her hand into his. Poppy felt him anxiously squeeze her hand in response as their blushes gave out a dim light.

When Poppy saw the party ahead of them, Poppy remembered her friends, "hey, are you okay with me telling everyone that we're on a date? I know how much you like your privacy and all so I figured I should ask first."

Branch hesitated, "do you have to?"

"Well people are gonna be curious when they see you with me" Poppy explained, knowing how the other trolls were, the snack pack especially, "I don't like lying, but I can dodge around the question if you really aren't comfortable with it."

"Fine" Branch sighed.

Poppy let out a relieved sigh and grinned to him, "thanks Branch."

They made it to the party and everyone happily greeted Poppy. She greeted them all back just as happy, and noticed them giving Branch curious looked. Feeling Branch's grip on her hand tighten, she decided not to hang around and let Branch get too overwhelmed, so she led him through the crowd towards her friends. Sure he wasn't as comfortable around the snack pack as he was with her, but he was even less comfortable around the other members of the village. To them he was an outsider, and to him they were strangers.

"Look who made it!" Poppy grinned to her friends, pulling Branch out from behind her.

Cooper was the first to react, "Branch! You actually came to a party!"

"Unfortunately" Branch grumbled, rubbing his neck.

Poppy saw that everyone else was still staring at him and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, she felt him lightly squeeze back.

"It's gonna be great" Biggie grinned down at them, "Poppy told us you liked chocolate so I brought some extra too."

Poppy gave her friend a grateful smile.

"What's up with the hand holding?" Suki pointed out, Poppy noticed the sly grin on her face.

Branch blushed and looked away, Poppy couldn't help but be a little cheeky, "Branch wanted this to be a date."

'Sorry Branch' Poppy thought as Branch's head snapped to her.

"Hey! You were the one who suggested this being a date, not me!" Branch's face was bright purple from blusing.

"Well you agreed to it, didn't you?" Poppy decided she liked teasing him, he was way too cute when he blushed.

Branch just grumbled in response.

"I didn't think a date of all things would get you out of that bunker" Guy Diamond commented.

Poppy tried not to laugh as her friends joined in on the teasing.

"You know nothing about me" Branch crossed his arms. Poppy saw the regret on his face when everyone in the group, including herself, gave him a sly smirk.

"Oh, so you've been wanting to go out with Poppy..." Satin grinned.

"For a while then?" Chenille finished.

"Th-that's not what I meant" Branch stuttered, Poppy loved seeing his face glow purple.

"Riiiiight" The twins grinned at him before leaving to enjoy the party.

Poppy continued to grin at Branch.

"It's not!" Branch blushed.

Poppy nodded, pretending to believe him before turning to her friends and changing the subject, she didn't want to push Branch too far, "so, any other couples we didn't know about here?"

Guy Diamond and Suki raised their hands together.

"I knew it!" Poppy gasped, she'd been saying that they had a thing for each other for a while, the other couple shrugged and grinned back.

Poppy continued to talk with her friends, letting Branch take a break from talking and giving him a chance to take in his surroundings. Eventually Branch tugged on her hand and nodded to the buffet.

Poppy hummed in amusement and turned to her friends, "excuse us, Branch wants chocolate."

The others laughed and waved, leaving to go enjoy the party themselves.

Poppy found it strange to spend most of a party around the buffet, but Branch didn't mind when she sometimes left to dance to a song she liked or make some announcements (there was a proposal during the party, so Poppy wanted to make sure that everyone congratulated the couple, after the announcement Poppy managed to get Branch to give them a small smile, unfortunately the couple didn't know the significance of that). One time Poppy came back from dancing and caught Branch mouthing the lyrics to a song. Poppy refused to let herself make a big deal out of it.

"Okay guys, we're getting to the end of this party, and since it's a valentines one you know what that means" Poppy spoke loudly on top of the mushroom for everyone to hear, she felt bad for leaving Branch alone without telling him, and resolved to make this quick.

The crowd cheered, and Poppy spotted Branch at the back looking around in confusion.

"Couple duets!" Poppy cheered back to them.

The crowd began to whisper excitedly and Poppy saw Branch freeze. She needed to get to him quickly.

"Poppy!" A voice called from the crowd, Poppy looked down and spotted a slightly younger female troll with pale red skin and pink hair, "we've all seen your date tonight! When are you and Branch going to sing?!"

Poppy gave a relieved sigh, perfect, she could explain sooner rather than later, "sorry guys, but Branch and I wont be singing. We'll see about next time, but not tonight."

The crowd let out a disappointed sigh. Poppy knew everyone in the village was curious about Branch's voice, Poppy herself was just as curious about it, but she knew Branch wasn't ready.

Quickly, Poppy gave out the list of duets and the order they'd be sung in before jumping down from the stage and leaving the party in the hands of the snack pack.

"What was that about?" Branch questioned when Poppy dragged him away from the party.

"What was what about?" Poppy knew what he meant, but didn't know where to start.

"Since when do you turn down a chance to sing?" Branch frowned, giving her a concerned look.

"Well, you'd have to sing too, and I saw your face when you found out about the duets" Poppy had almost panicked herself when she saw his expression, "you looked almost terrified. Besides, I promised you wouldn't have to sing or dance."

Branch gave her a grateful smile, Poppy felt her heart melt, "you could have easily forced me to sing."

"Yeah well, singing is about having fun" Poppy smiled back, "I imagine you wouldn't be having too much fun if we forced you to sing."

"Yeah" Branch nodded.

"So, _did_ you have fun?" Poppy asked, she really couldn't tell how much he'd enjoyed it.

"At the party? No, not really, parties aren't my thing" Branch shrugged.

Poppy gave a disappointed sigh, of course it wouldn't be that easy to get Branch to open up.

"But" Branch continued, blushing, "I guess I had fun on the date."

"You did?" Poppy blinked.

Branch shrugged, but Poppy was happy, maybe it'd take a while to get Branch to enjoy a party, but he had actually liked going on a date with her! A bunch of much calmer date ideas started zooming around her head and Poppy felt a little giddy.

"I...have to go get something" Branch said, stepping back.

He was leaving?

"Do you want me to come with you?" Poppy wondered.

"Ah, no, I'll be right back" Branch said, turning to leave before pausing and turning back.

"Branch?" Poppy frowned, Branch was acting weird.

In one quick motion, Branch kissed Poppy and the cheek and ran to get whatever it was that he needed to get while Poppy stood there frozen.


	6. Branch 3

**Branch's perspective**

When Branch had finished his note for Poppy, he'd realised that he couldn't just give it to her, it was another anonymous one after all, he'd have to leave the party early. So he needed an excuse. It didn't take Branch long to come up with something, all he had to do was look at the note after all.

So Branch put away his calligraphy set, grabbed his sketch pencils and spent the rest of the day sketching, hoping the final product didn't look as stupid as his usual sketches did.

The party had started. Branch didn't need the time on the invitation to know that. He could hear the music. Hopefully it dulled down before a bergen heard. Branch just wanted this over and done with.

He'd just barely managed to finish when he heard excited banging on the hollow stone above him. Quickly hiding the sketch and the note, Branch hurried up to greet Poppy.

"Hey! Are you ready to go?" Poppy grinned when the hatch opened.

"...Yeah, I guess" Branch shrugged, attempting to act natural. Hopefully his nervousness wasn't showing, this was the first party he'd actually been to in a long time, and while Branch couldn't care less about the party itself, he knew that for Poppy this was a big deal, she'd finally succeeded in getting him to go to a party. He hoped she didn't put too much pressure on herself.

Branch only noticed that something was different when they'd started walking.

"A new outfit?" Branch blinked.

The dress was kind of plain, at least for someone like Poppy. It was longer than her usual dress with no patterns on it at all, just a shade of blue that he found familiar, he couldn't put his finger on where he'd seen the colour before.

Poppy looked at said outfit and nodded, "yeah, I wanted to try something new since I've never actually gone to a party with a date before."

Branch froze, "a date?"

Poppy froze too and visibly blushed despite the darkness, "well...yeah, I mean, it's a valentines party, sort of, and I invited you and you said yes for once, but it doesn't have to be a date if you don't want! I'm just saying because it's a party involving couples and you're coming to it with me so we're technically going on a date...like I said, it doesn't have to be like that if you don't want it to be!"

Branch realised that Poppy rambled when she was flustered. His cheeks started to feel a little warm and he hoped his blush wasn't as visible as Poppy's.

"Do _you_ want it to be a date?" Branch asked curiously.

Poppy's blush almost glowed in the dark, "maybe a little bit..."

Branch held his breath and forced himself to continue, "I might want it to be a date too..."

Branch knew his blush was glowing just as much as Poppy's now.

They walked in silence for a moment before Branch felt Poppy slide her hand into his. Their blushes really were glowing now, and Branch was ten times as nervous as he was when he'd exited the bunker.

When the party was in sight Poppy spoke up, "hey, are you okay with me telling everyone that we're on a date? I know how much you like your privacy and all so I figured I should ask first."

Branch hesitated, "do you have to?"

"Well people are gonna be curious when they see you with me" Poppy explained, "I don't like lying, but I can dodge around the question if you really aren't comfortable with it."

Branch sighed, "fine."

"Thanks Branch" Poppy grinned.

They arrived at the party and everyone happily greeted Poppy and looked at Branch curiously. Branch suddenly felt uncomfortable with so many eyes on him. The fact that he and Poppy were still holding hands didn't help.

Poppy led Branch through the crowd with ease and they soon found themselves facing the snack pack.

"Look who made it!" Poppy pulled Branch out from behind her.

"Branch! You actually came to a party!" Cooper jumped on the spot.

"Unfortunately" Branch rubbed his neck with his other hand, still feeling everyone's stares.

"It's gonna be great" Biggie grinned down at them, "Poppy told us you liked chocolate so I brought some extra too."

"What's up with the hand holding?" Suki pointed out.

Branch looked away as Poppy replied, "Branch wanted this to be a date."

Hearing this, Branch's head snapped to Poppy, "hey! You were the one who suggested this being a date, not me!"

"Well you agreed to it, didn't you?" Poppy smirked.

Branch grumbled to himself. How did Poppy _gain_ confidence from being stared at? Sure crowds were her thing, but she'd been just as shy about it as he had on the walk.

"I didn't think a date of all things would get you out of that bunker" Guy Diamond commented.

"You know nothing about me" Branch responded, realising too late what that could mean.

"Oh, so you've been wanting to go out with Poppy..." Satin grinned.

"For a while then?" Chenille finished.

Branch's face glowed purple, "th-that's not what I meant."

"Riiiiight" The twins grinned at him before leaving to enjoy the party.

Poppy was grinning at Branch.

"It's not!" Branch blushed.

Poppy nodded as if she believed him, "so, any other couples we didn't know about here?"

Guy Diamond and Suki raised their hands together.

"I knew it!" Poppy gasped at them, the other couple shrugged and grinned back.

Branch ignored them as they started to gossip about the other couples there and looked around, happy that the crowd had gotten over their surprise at him holding hands with Poppy and gone back to doing their own thing.

Spotting the buffet, Branch tugged on Poppy's hand and nodded to it.

Poppy made an amused hum and turned back to her friends, "excuse us, Branch wants chocolate."

The remainder of the snack pack laughed and waved before going off to do their own thing.

Branch and Poppy spent a lot of their time at the buffet. Sometimes Poppy left for group dances and making announcements, but she stuck to Branch as much as she could, helping him get away when a few glitter bombs went off and chatting.

When it was nearing the end of the party, Branch found himself alone. He had no idea where Poppy had went, and he tried not to get anxious. Looking around, he eventually spotted her on top of the big mushroom. Another announcement?

"Okay guys, we're getting to the end of this party, and since it's a valentines one you know what that means" Poppy spoke loudly for everyone to hear.

The crowd cheered in response and Branch looked around in confusion, he always checked on Poppy's parties, but he'd never stayed around until the end of one, especially valentines ones.

"Couple duets!" Poppy cheered back.

Branch froze. 'Oh no'

"Poppy!" Someone called out from the crowd, "we've all seen your date tonight! When are you and Branch going to sing?!"

An excited whisper came over the crowd and Branch felt the urge to run.

"Sorry guys, but Branch and I wont be singing" Poppy apologised, "we'll see about next time, but not tonight."

The crowd let out a disappointed sigh. Everyone in troll village wanted to know if Branch could sing. It was a much discussed topic.

Poppy gave out the list of duets and the order they'd be sung in and left the stage to the first couple. After that she grabbed Branch's hand and led him further away from the party.

"What was that about?" Branch questioned.

"What was what about?" Poppy wondered.

"Since when do you turn down a chance to sing?" Branch frowned.

"Well, you'd have to sing too, and I saw your face when you found out about the duets" Poppy explained, "you looked almost terrified. Besides, I promised you wouldn't have to sing or dance."

Branch gave her a grateful smile, "you could have easily forced me to sing."

"Yeah well, singing is about having fun" Poppy smiled back, "I imagine you wouldn't be having too much fun if we forced you to sing."

"Yeah" Branch nodded.

"So, _did_ you have fun?" Poppy asked curiously.

"At the party? No, not really, parties aren't my thing" Branch shrugged.

Poppy gave a disappointed sigh.

"But" Branch continued, blushing, "I guess I had fun on the date."

"You did?" Poppy blinked.

Branch shrugged, trying not to let Poppy see the small blush on his face. Then he remembered his plan.

"I...have to go get something" Branch said, stepping back.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Poppy wondered.

"Ah, no, I'll be right back" Branch said, turning to run before hesitating and turning back.

"Branch?" Poppy frowned.

As quickly as he could, Branch kissed her on the cheek and ran off to his bunker. He'd been wanting to do that all night, and he didn't think he could get himself to do it when he got back. Hopefully she wasn't too against it, he didn't get to see her face before he left.


	7. Poppy 4

**Poppy's perspective**

Poppy sat in her pod with snacks in front of her, eagerly waiting for her friends to arrive so she could give them the full recount of the previous night. The excitement made her bounce in her seat, and by the time the snack pack was at her door Poppy had reached the equivalent of a sugar high.

The snack pack quickly filed in when they saw Poppy practically vibrating, knowing they were in for a good story.

"So what happened?" Biggie was quick to ask.

"Branch kissed me!" Poppy bounced excitedly on the spot.

"What?" The snack pack gasped, waiting for Poppy to explain.

"Well, I mean, it was a kiss on the cheek" Poppy quickly elaborated, rubbing the cheek that Branch had kissed, "but it was from _Branch_ , so it's a pretty big deal!"

"Did he say anything?" Satin questioned.

"Did _you_ say anything?" Chenille added.

"Well, he said he needed to go get something and that he'd be right back, but before he left he kissed me and ran" Poppy giggled, "he's unbelievably shy."

"So _did_ he come back?" Suki wondered.

"Yep!" Poppy nodded, "he blushed _a lot_ and gave me this!"

Poppy held up a sketch of a poppy flower for her friends to see before continuing, "he said he would have gone and gotten a real poppy but the closest field was too far away, so he drew one instead."

"He drew that?" Satin gasped.

"He's such a good artist! And this is just a sketch!" Chenille clapped.

"He can do a lot better when he has more time to draw" Poppy shrugged, "I've seen his plans for the bunker, he spent a lot of time drawing them simply because it was fun to picture it, at least that's what Branch told me."

"Back to last night!" Biggie quickly redirected the conversation, "did anything else happen?"

"Well he did the most adorable thing" Poppy grinned to herself, remembering, "after he gave me the picture he froze up and got really shy, he whispered and stuttered a lot and it took me a few minutes to get him to speak up, and in the end he practically yelled that I had pretty eyes and ran away again."

The snack pack cooed at that.

"And when I got back I found a letter in my mailpod, from the person who wrote the poem!" Poppy held up the letter, showing the familiar purple calligraphy.

 _I heard you liked the poem, I'm glad, I spent a lot of time trying to make it perfect for you. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to write another one, but I wanted to give you something anyway. I doubt you'd love me if you knew who I was, but after years of watching from a distance I wanted to at least tell you, I love you. See you at the party._

The snack pack sighed as they read the beautifully written letter.

"They're such a sweetheart" Biggie commented.

"Yeah" Poppy nodded in agreement, a little more calm now.

"Who do you think it is?" Suki looked to her friends, "'I doubt you'd love me if you knew who I was'?"

"Do you think they're ugly or something?" Guy Diamond wondered.

"Or maybe they're someone who's done something bad once?" Biggie hummed.

Suki shrugged, "we really have no other clues."

"Watching from a distance..." Poppy focused on that line. A troll who was different from the others, in a way that at least that troll thought was bad. They watched her from a distance and was too shy to confess in person.

Poppy got an idea.

The snack pack saw the sudden determined look on Poppy's face and quickly stood up.

"Did you figure out who it is?" Chenille was the first to ask.

"I have an idea, but I need to be sure" Poppy replied.

"What's the plan?" Satin questioned.

"I cant tell you, sorry" Poppy apologised, "we're talking about a troll who couldn't even tell me they loved me in person. I need to be careful with this."

The gang nodded and filed out of the house, demanding that Poppy would report back as soon as she was certain who her secret admirer was. Poppy watched them go until she was sure they wouldn't follow her, then ran as fast as she could to Branch's bunker.

Poppy pounded on the hollow stone, calling Branch's name. After five minutes of no response, Poppy changed her tactics to stomping on the doormat. There was another five minutes of no response, and Poppy concluded that Branch was out. She was about to make herself comfortable to wait for him when she noticed a crack of darkness in the doormat. Had Branch accidentally left it open? Normally she couldn't open the trap door from the outside, and she knew the grey troll was more than happy to hide how he got in from her.

The gap was wide enough for Poppy to wedge her fingers into it and slide the trap door open. After doing so, Poppy looked down into the dimly lit bunker and realised she could get into a lot of trouble for this.

'Well he should have realised that this would happen when he didn't double check' Poppy reasoned to herself, hopping into the bunker and closing the trap door behind her without a second thought.

It was odd to be in the bunker without Branch, he always hovered around her, making sure she didn't enter certain rooms or touch certain things. Poppy loved the freedom, but did her best to stay out of the rooms that Branch had vehemently steered her away from. It was a bunker after all. Who knew what kinds of dangerous things were in those rooms.

Eventually, Poppy made it to the lowest floor, and her eyes were instantly drawn to the curtains behind Branch's workbench. He never had those open. Ever. Curiosity overwhelmed Poppy and she itched to open them. She'd sworn she'd seen some colour through the sides of the curtains once. Very little in Branch's bunker was colourful. She needed to know.

Poppy found herself in front of the curtains reaching to open them. Only to be stopped by a startled scream and someone running into her, bringing her down with them as they fell.

"Don't touch that!" Branch exclaimed, holding himself up over Poppy.

"Branch?" Poppy blinked.

"Yes, Branch" the grey troll rolled his eyes, "how did you get in here?"

"The trap door was left open" Poppy explained absent-mindedly, distracted by the way Branch was holding himself above her.

'Nice' Poppy thought appreciatively, looking at his normally not obvious muscles.

"Oh thank god" Branch sighed.

"What?" Poppy's attention snapped back to the other troll's face, only to find herself just as distracted. All she'd have to do is lift her head a little and they'd kiss.

Wait, no, Poppy was currently getting into trouble for snooping.

"I was worried that you'd figured out how to get in" Branch told her.

"You're not mad that I got in in the first place?" Poppy blinked in confusion.

"Well not double checking the trap door was my fault, and you cant help your curiosity" Branch shrugged, still above her.

"What's with the screaming and tackling then?" Poppy wondered.

"Well you were about to find the _one_ thing I didn't want you to find" Branch replied, looking up and thinking to himself out loud "I'm going to need a more secure hiding place."

"What are you hiding behind the curtains?" Poppy asked.

"None of your business" Branch said firmly.

"Is it dangerous?" Poppy pressed on.

"Doesn't matter" Branch scowled, "stay out of it."

Poppy concluded that it wasn't dangerous.

"Poppy" Branch said warningly.

Poppy decided to give into the urge to kiss him.

It was a quick peck on the lips, but it was enough to disarm Branch completely, giving Poppy the perfect opportunity to roll him off of her and rip the curtains open. Only to be stunned into her own shocked state.

"You...kept them?" Poppy picked up a random invitation, she remembered this one getting particularly broken the day she'd attempted to give it to him, it looked almost new now. Poppy looked at the other invitations she remembered him destroying. They all looked perfect. "You...fixed them?"

Branch was still on the floor, he'd covered his eyes with his arm. What Poppy _could_ see of his face was bright purple.

" _This_ is your most guarded secret?" Poppy looked at him, not sure how to feel.

"Yeah" Branch sighed.

Poppy turned back to the invitations and looked through them, at the back of the hidey-hole she spotted her first invitation for him, it was a simple classic card, nothing extravagant. Branch had torn it in half and stomped off, grumbling something about stupid parties and bergan feasts. He'd liked her enough to go back and try and fix it? Even then? That had been nearly ten full years ago!

Poppy carefully pushed past the other fragile cards and gently picked up the bright pink cardboard. The repair wasn't too fantastic. It was obvious that Branch had attempted to fix it with glue at first (Poppy had plenty of experience when it came to spotting dried glue, she used to accidentally glue her craft supplies to her table), but then he'd given up and simply used tape.

"Branch?" Poppy turned to the other troll, who had moved his arm to look at her curiously.

"What?" Branch frowned.

"Stand up" Poppy instructed.

Hesitating a bit, Branch did as he was told. As soon as he was standing, Poppy had her arms around him. Awkwardly, Branch hugged her back.

After staying like that for a minute, Poppy leaned back, not letting go of him, almost scared that he'd run away.

"Do you want to go on another date?" Branch blurted out.

Poppy blinked in surprise before giggling, "I was about to ask the exact same thing."


	8. Branch 4

**Branch's perspective**

After giving Poppy the drawing of the flower the night before, Branch had immediately ran home and packed a day's worth of supplies just in case and set out to go to the poppy field, glad that he'd eaten so much chocolate at the party. Trolls need at least eight hours of sleep, but they'd found that eating sugar could change that to an hour of sleep with no bad side effects. Branch didn't like using sugar to stay awake because he could get a little hyper, but it did help when it came to long supply trips.

During the walk, Branch thought about what had happened. He'd kissed Poppy, on the cheek, but it was still a kiss. He couldn't believe he'd managed to do that. He'd also told her she had pretty eyes. Branch covered his face with his hands in embarrassment. Told her? He yelled it at her then took off. The sugar must have made him a little jittery. Yeah, that's it. Still, without the sugar he wouldn't have been able to say it at all. At least he knew that Poppy liked the drawing. And the kiss. But she'd called him cute, which ruffled his feathers a little. He was _not_ cute! He was Branch! The village grump! He built a _bunker_ with enough supplies to last _nine years_! With his own two hands! And he was _still_ gathering supplies! He was the toughest troll in the village! Branch was _not_ cute.

Shaking off those thoughts, Branch focused on walking, and was surprised that he'd made it to the poppy field half an hour ahead of time. He used that half an hour of extra time to take a nap, then looked for the perfect flower. In the end, he couldn't decide between three of them, all different colours. Purple, yellow and classic red. He grabbed a pocket knife and sawed his way through each stem before carrying them back to the place he left his bags, glad that the flowers were particularly light compared to other flowers.

Making his way back was a little more difficult for Branch. He had to dodge and hide from more and more trolls as he got closer to the village. There was no way he was gonna be caught carrying flowers. Especially poppy flowers. Unfortunately, said brightly coloured flowers made him an easier target. He was so glad he somehow managed to make it to his bunker unnoticed.

Branch went through the back entrance and hid the flowers in his room, knowing Poppy's tendency to randomly visit him and make herself comfortable in his bunker. He didn't want her to see them yet.

Making his way to the lowest floor to find food, he saw something pink out of the corner of his eye, his head snapped to it and saw Poppy about to open the curtains to where he hid his invitations, with a startled scream, Branch ran to stop her. By running into her. They both fell and Branch placed his hands on the ground on either side of her head to hold himself up.

"Don't touch that" Branch exclaimed.

"Branch?" Poppy blinked, looking surprised.

"Yes, Branch" he rolled his eyes, "how did you get in here?"

"The trap door was left open" Poppy explained.

"Oh thank god" Branch sighed.

"What?" Poppy asked.

"I was worried that you'd figured out how to get in" Branch replied, glad that she didn't have 24/7 access to his bunker. It was a big place. Who knew how many parties she'd want to throw in there.

"You're not mad that I got in in the first place?" Poppy blinked, looking confused.

"Well not double checking the trap door was my fault, and you cant help your curiosity" Branch realised that he let her get away with these kinds of things way too often. Poppy was lucky he loved her.

"What's with the screaming and tackling then?" Poppy wondered.

"Well you were about to find the _one_ thing I didn't want you to find" Branch explained, not realising when he started thinking out loud, "I'm going to need a more secure hiding place."

"What are you hiding behind the curtains?" Poppy asked, her expression full of curiosity.

"None of your business" Branch said firmly, hoping that's be enough to deter her. It wasn't.

"Is it dangerous?" Poppy questioned.

"Doesn't matter" Branch scowled, "stay out of it."

Poppy's expression turned thoughtful, then determined.

"Poppy" Branch said warningly, knowing she was about to try something.

What she did wasn't what he'd expected though. She kissed him. On the lips. Branch was frozen.

Before he knew it, she'd rolled him of of her (was he on top of her the entire time?!) and jumped to the curtains, ripping them open. Branch covered his eyes with his arm, not wanting to see her reaction. She'd probably tease him for keeping them all, or bug him into joining her scrap-booking club for managing to fix them.

He heard nothing.

Poppy was silent. That's rarely a good sign.

"You...kept them?" He finally heard her whisper. He hated to admit it, but he was just as curious about things as Poppy was. Branch lifted his arm slightly to see her face.

He saw her gently pick up a card. He'd been pretty brutal when he'd destroyed that one. He felt so bad when he went back to get it. He'd tried so hard to fix it, to make it as perfect as Poppy had, but the damage was done.

"You...fixed them?" Poppy turned to look at him, " _this_ is your most guarded secret?"

"Yeah" Branch sighed in defeat.

Poppy turned back to the invitations, Branch moved his arm a bit more to look at her easier. She was looking at all the other cards, probably remembering how he'd destroyed them all, and something at the back caught her attention. The first cards.

Branch watched as Poppy carefully pushed past the more recent cards and pulled out the first card she'd ever given him. Branch had ripped that one in half. He remembered the tears in her eyes when he'd done that. He'd been so mad at the time, but seeing her nearly crying over the card had made him more mad at himself than anything, so he left, sure that she didn't want someone like him cheering her up. After he'd calmed down he went back to apologise, but all that was left in the clearing was the ripped card.

Branch remembered how much time he'd spent trying to fix the card. He'd tried gluing the pieces together, but the coloured paper wouldn't stick. He'd stormed away from the work bench in an effort to not make the card's condition worse so many times. Eventually he just gave in and used tape. It made the card look worse, but the card was together at least.

"Branch?" Poppy turned to him again, a soft look was on her face.

"What?" Branch frowned, was this when she'd start teasing him for it?

"Stand up" Poppy instructed.

Branch hesitated, but did as he was told. The second he was on his feet Poppy had her arms around him. Branch stood there stiffly. Why was she hugging him? It wasn't hug time. Trolls only hug during hug time. Its a rule...right? Maybe it was a rule, but Poppy was the princess, she could break it, and right now Poppy was waiting so patiently for him that he almost felt forced to hug back.

They stood there hugging for almost a full minute before Poppy leaned back in his arms, still holding onto him. She smiled at him and Branch melted a bit inside.

Branch stared at her for a second before blurting out "do you want to go on another date?"

He couldn't believe he'd just said that.

Poppy blinked at him in surprise before giggling and melting him a little more, "I was about to ask the exact same thing."


	9. Poppy 5

_**Incredibly short chapter for Poppy. I wanted to jump straight to the date, but Branch needed some focus, and if only Poppy jumped straight to the date then Branch would be a chapter behind. I did my best to not make this feel like filler.**_

* * *

 **Poppy's perspective**

Poppy skipped home excitedly. Branch had asked her on a date! _Branch_ had asked _her_! She couldn't believe it.

Poppy reached her pod and made a beeline for her bed, which she jumped on to grab a pillow so she could scream into it. Normally Poppy would scream excitedly without any barriers, or use that energy to sing louder than normal, but this was about a date with Branch. One that he'd asked her on. She needed to tread carefully. The date will remain a secret. At least until after its over. Poppy shoved the pillow into her face and screamed again, kicking her legs excitedly in an attempt to get the energy out.

Branch was taking her out on a date!

With her loud excitement out of the way, Poppy began to wonder what the date would be like. If Branch really was her secret admirer (Poppy had no doubts about that anymore) then he was a romantic. A hopeless romantic. He'd sent her anonymous love letters after all. What a dork.

The date wouldn't be somewhere public, Poppy knew that much. People would stare and ask questions, and while Poppy was perfectly okay with that, Branch wouldn't be. Maybe the date was in his bunker? Poppy knew he liked to show it off to her (whenever he was showing something to her in there, everything he said almost sounded practised, Poppy thought it was adorable), and it _was_ where he felt the most comfortable. Safe from predators. Poppy wouldn't mind if the date was there. The bunker gave off a warm cosy feeling, and it really was interesting in there.

Thinking about the bunker made Poppy's mind drift a bit. If she and Branch got married, would she live there? It was a big place, a hundred times the size of her pod, which was already bigger than the average pod. Poppy couldn't imagine Branch living anywhere besides his bunker, even her pod would make him feel cramped after eighteen years of living with so much space. Poppy could get used to living underground. Plenty of room for kids, too. Poppy wondered how Branch was with kids, he didn't seem like the type to like kids, but he also didn't seem like the type to write love poetry, so she wouldn't cross the possibility of him being good with kids out just yet.

What would their kids look like? Would they be grey? Or would they have Branch's original colours? What _were_ Branch's original colours? Poppy wondered if he'd be offended if she asked. He seemed to dislike the idea of having colours, but she'd never actually asked him about it. That realisation shocked her. In all her years of trying to make Branch happy, she'd never asked _why_ he was grey? Turning grey was rare for a troll, but when it did happen there was a pretty serious reason behind it. Did it have something to do with why Branch was so paranoid about being attacked by predators? What happened to him?


	10. Branch 5

_**Yes I am upping the rating, all blame goes to Guy Diamond.**_

* * *

 **Branch's perspective**

Branch was so nervous. He'd told Poppy to meet him at the edge of the village the day after she'd broken into his bunker. He used the twenty-four hours to freak out over the fact that she knew about the invitations and make sure he had everything for the date. Food was his biggest problem. Sure he had plenty of it, but he didn't know what Poppy liked. He didn't stalk her _that_ obsessively.

Branch considered asking her directly, but that might clue her into what he had planned. Bad idea. So he did the next best thing. He went to her friends.

He stood nervously outside Guy Diamond's pod, noting how late it was. Not his first choice of information, but he was scared that the others would be asking a lot of questions, considering that Poppy had probably already had a snack pack meeting and told them about _everything_ that happened in his bunker, and compared to them, Guy Diamond might as well have been mute. Branch chalked it up to the auto-tune.

Eventually, Branch knocked on the pod, and he heard some talking before the petal opened. Great. Company.

"Branch?" Guy Diamond blinked in surprise, "I didn't expect you of all people to come here."

"It's Branch?!" An excited voice came from behind Guy Diamond, and Suki popped her head over Guy Diamond's shoulder.

"Of course she's here" Branch rolled his eyes, remembering their new couple status, "am I interrupting something?"

"Nothing that can't be rescheduled" Guy Diamond winked to Suki. Branch felt uncomfortable.

"Come in!" Suki invited, as if it was _her_ pod they were in.

The couple led him into a sitting room, and Suki ran off to get the snacks.

"So what's up?" Guy Diamond wondered.

"The date with Poppy" Branch stated, the sound of a plate shattering stopped him from continuing.

"You're going on another date with Poppy?!" Suki gasped, running into the room.

"I thought she told you?" Branch blinked, confused.

"No actually, we haven't heard anything about it" Guy Diamond told him.

"I thought she told you guys everything" Branch felt his world turning upside down. Poppy could keep her mouth shut about something?

"Apparently not this! So tell us! Did she ask _you_ out or did you ask _her_ out?" Guy Diamond questioned, Suki sat next to him eagerly waiting for Branch's answer.

"Does it matter?" Branch frowned, how had he gotten into this situation?

"It matters more than anything" Suki said seriously.

"Uh...I...asked her" Branch blushed.

The couple opened their mouths in silent excited screams, they stood up and started bouncing on the spot to focus their excited energy on something besides shaking Branch, something they knew he wouldn't appreciate.

Branch watched this happen, feeling almost scared of their excitement. Did Poppy have to deal with this all the time? Or was this a special case just for him? At least they were so excited that their screams weren't audible. His sensitive ears were saved. Eventually they sat down again, now only vibrating in excitement.

"So how did you ask her?" Guy Diamond was the first to ask.

"Uh" Branch blushed again, "I didn't _mean_ to. It just kind of came out when she hugged me."

"You let her hug you?!" Suki's mouth opened in shock.

Branch covered his face in embarrassment. Why was he letting them question him like this? Branch thought about it for a second and realised, if he had to take a wild guess, it was because he'd been keeping quiet about his crush on Poppy for over ten years. Hopefully he didn't blurt out any more secrets.

"Don't you dare tell anyone about any of this" Branch said threateningly. Unfortunately for him the threatening tone was weaker than he expected.

The couple made a zip motion with their mouths, then pretended to lock it, then pretended to throw the keys away. They were way to over-dramatic.

"So how long have you liked Poppy?" Suki wondered.

Branch groaned he wasn't getting out of this just yet, "none of your business."

"Oh come on Branch!" Suki prodded, "you were just starting to opening up!"

"You're starting to sound Poppy" Branch pointed out.

Suki grinned proudly, "good."

"Tell us Branch!" Guy Diamond refocused the conversation, "we promise we wont tell anyone about any of this!"

"I just wanted to know what food Poppy liked" Branch grumbled to himself.

"We'll give you a list and the recipes as soon as you answered our questions" Suki immediately jumped in.

"Bribery? Really?" Branch frowned at them.

"Don't make us go to blackmail" Guy Diamond threatened, grinning, "you've already given us plenty of information."

"You know that threatening to threaten blackmail still counts as blackmail, right?" Branch pointed out, sighing in defeat, "tell anyone about anything that's said here and you're dead."

Branch's captors jumped in their seats victoriously.

"So? How long have you liked Poppy?" Suki asked again.

"Over ten years" Branch grumbled.

The couple gasped in shock.

"This is serious!" Suki stood up, shocked, "this is out of crush territory!"

"What?" Branch became nervous.

"So how long have you _loved_ Poppy?" Guy Diamond grinned while his girlfriend moved to freak out behind him.

"W-who said anything about love?" Branch's face started to glow purple.

"How long?" Guy Diamond pressed.

"I don't know what you're talking out" Branch denied.

"You love Poppy" Guy Diamond stated.

"No I don't" Branch shook his head.

"You obviously do!" Suki exclaimed.

"Your girlfriend is scaring me" Branch moved away from the red troll who had jumped to sit next to him.

"Tell us how long you've loved Poppy or we'll tell everyone that you love her" Suki threatened, leaning closer to Branch.

"Seven years, three months and twenty-eight days!" Branch squeaked out.

"Poppy's right, he _is_ adorable when he's flustered" Suki said as she leaned back victoriously.

"You seriously kept track of the exact number?" Guy Diamond stared at him in surprise. Branch remained silent.

"So what do you have planned for your date with Poppy?" Suki asked.

"I can't say." Branch crossed his arms.

"Why?" Suki was making Branch feel more and more like this was an interrogation.

"Because then you'll tell Poppy. This is supposed to be a surprise" Branch explained.

"We've been sworn to secrecy, remember?" Suki reminded, "no one, not even Poppy, is going to hear about this."

Branch sighed, this evening was seriously getting stressful, "its a picnic."

"Where?" Suki didn't give him even a second to breathe.

"Its a spot I found when searching the area for threats" Branch told them, "in a tree. Its so high up that you can see over the entire forest."

"A tree you say?" Guy Diamond smirked.

"Um...yeah?" Branch's nervousness reared it's ugly head.

"BRANCH AND POPPY~ SITTING IN A TREE~" Suki sang.

"K. I. S. S. I. N. G~!" Guy Diamond joined in, the auto-tune managing to make the childish tease sound like an actual song.

"I'm done. I'll just guess what foods Poppy likes" Branch said, standing up to leave.

"Nononono!" Suki pushed him back into his seat, laughing, "sorry! We couldn't help ourselves!"

"Sorry" Guy Diamond chimed in, looking around his girlfriend.

Branch grumbled at them.

Guy Diamond grinned and ask the question that everyone in the village needed to know, "can you sing?"

"No" Branch immediately lied.

His speed is what clued them in, Suki gasped in shock as she sat down next to Guy Diamond, "oh my god you can sing."

"I really cant" Branch denied.

"Oh my god he can sing better than any of us" Guy Diamond realised.

Branch facepalmed.

"Is that why you don't like hearing us sing? Because hearing our out of tune voices makes you cringe?" Suki assumed.

"No, singing in general is just annoying" Branch explained.

"Then why don't you sing? Singing in the group is very different from listening to the group sing" Guy Diamond told him.

"I don't sing" Branch's mood fell slightly, and something in his voice stopped them from asking why.

"I'll...go and write down that list" Suki said, leaving the room to find a pen and paper.

After a minute, Guy Diamond spoke up, "sorry we got so excited, Branch, years of curiosity can do that."

Branch shrugged in response, "I should have been expecting it."

Guy Diamond hesitated before speaking again, "I don't know how much you believe us when we say we wont tell anyone about any of this, but if you ever need to talk to someone and you cant do it with Poppy, feel free to stop by."

Branch nodded, but doubted he'd actually do so.

A few minutes later, Suki returned with the list and a bag of sprinkles.

Branch took the list and read over it before looking at her in confusion, "you put 'fairy bread' in three times."

"She _really_ likes fairy bread" Suki replied before holding up the bag of sprinkles, "you didn't seem like the type to have sprinkles in storage, so I thought I'd save you the trouble of going door to door asking everyone."

"Thanks" Branch said appreciatively, taking the bag. He knew that he'd be needing sprinkles no matter what was on the list, this saved both his time and his reputation.

"What are friends for?" Guy Diamond grinned, leading Branch to the door.

Branch left the pod and glanced back to the couple, who were waving to him. He waved back without a thought and found himself shocked at how surprised and delighted they were. Branch knew he was a grump, but did he really never wave to people?

Branch turned and started walking back to the bunker, thinking to himself. Talking to them had been easier than he'd expected. Sure the questioning was an unwelcome surprise, but they'd promised to keep their mouths shut, and it kind of helped to talk about his thing for Poppy. He felt lighter at least. Maybe he could stop by some other time. Probably when Suki wasn't around. Venting about his problems would be a lot easier if the red troll wasn't there gasping about every little confession.

Who knew that out of everyone in the snack pack, Guy Diamond was the one who Branch got along with. Maybe he could give the others a shot too...

Some other time though, Branch was feeling a little drained from Suki's excited questioning, and he needed to get to getting the picnic food ready.


	11. Poppy 6

**Poppy's perspective**

Poppy met branch at the edge of the village the next day. Branch was already there waiting, despite the fact that Poppy was there early. With a skip in a step, Poppy walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek as greeting before grabbing his hand.

"So where are we heading?" Poppy smiled at him.

"Uh...actually..." the sound of his voice made Poppy inspect him closer. Branch wasn't a happy troll, true, but he seemed kind of sad.

"Hmm?" Poppy pressed gently, cocking her head to the side, waiting patiently.

A thoughtful look crossed his face for a second, and then his mood lifted. Kind of. He still looked sad, but the sadness wasn't there.

"...actually...you wouldn't know where it is" Branch looked away, Poppy knew that wasn't what he originally intended to say, but he seemed okay now so Poppy didn't push it. Instead she focused on what he actually said.

"So, not your bunker then?" Poppy really was expecting it to be the bunker, she guessed that her surprise was showing thanks to Branch's reaction.

"What?" Branch's disbelief surprised her, "who would take anyone on a date in a bunker? Heck, who would take anyone on a date in their own home?"

"Creek tried to take me on a date once" Poppy remembered with amusement, "he showed up at my pod and insisted I come with him on a date right that second, then he took me to his pod and we had lunch there. That was the entire date. No candles. No fancy food. Not even a tablecloth."

Branch snorted. He'd actually been so amused that he snorted! Poppy mentally patted herself on the back for bringing up the story.

"Of course Creep doesn't know anything about romance" Poppy could hear the smug amusement in his voice. Then she realised what he said.

Poppy did a better job of holding back her laugh than Branch did. Still, she had to hide her smirk. She shouldn't encourage Branch to talk like that about Creek, but honestly Creek _could_ be a little creepy when he tried to be romantic, she doubted he did it on purpose, it just wasn't Creek's field of expertise.

"Uh, come on" Branch lead her through the forest, not letting go of her hand.

Poppy found herself surprised at how far out they were going. She'd never been so far from her home, yet Branch seemed to know exactly where they were.

It didn't take Poppy long to realise they were going up a hill, or a mountain in troll eyes. They were reaching a point where, if she looked back, she could see the cluster of trees that held their village.

Eventually they stopped at a tree and Branch shot his hair up to the closest branch. Poppy followed his lead and they pulled themselves up. When they landed, Poppy began to giggle.

"What's so funny?" Branch asked, looking at her, confused.

"Branch! You're on a branch!" Poppy found this extremely amusing, "Branch on a branch!"

Branch rolled his eyes at her and went up to the next branch. Poppy kept giggling and followed him, making up a random song about branches as they went. She didn't fail to notice that Branch's annoyed expression also held some amusement. She incorporated it into the song, causing Branch to miss when he shot his hair up again. Poppy had to pause her song to laugh as Branch went ahead.

Eventually they reached a point where Branch stopped on the branch above her and beckoned her up. Confused, Poppy shot her hair up one last time and pulled herself up, gasping in surprise when she saw the set up.

Close to the trunk of the tree, there was a green picnic blanket with a plate and cup for each of them with pillows against the trunk so they wouldn't have to lean against the tough bark. Glowbugs sat comfortably around the branch they were standing on, lighting up the area for when it got dark. And there was a bit of colour just out of her sight.

Poppy moved around to the other side of the branch to see what the colour was from, and was surprised to see flowers! Three of them, one purple, one yellow and one red.

Seeing what she was looking at, Branch rushed to grab the flowers and bring them to her.

"They're poppy flowers" Branch told her as he held them out.

Poppy blinked in surprise, taking them, "I thought they only came in red...?"

"Very few things in nature only come in one colour" Branch informed.

"Wasn't the closest field really far away?" Poppy wondered, gently touching the petals of her namesake.

"Yep" Branch said, some pride showing on his face, "I went to get them right after the party."

"So that's where you were yesterday morning?" Poppy looked up, shocked. When Branch nodded, Poppy looked down guiltily, "now I feel bad for sneaking into your bunker."

"You didn't before?" Branch asked, amused.

"Nope" Poppy laughed, walking up to him and kissing him on the cheek, "thank you Branch, I love them."

"No problem" Branch squeaked out.

"And I LOVE this set up!" Poppy turned to the picnic, gently placing down the flowers before jumping over to the pillows, "and these pillows! Where did you get them? They're adorable!"

The pillows had trees stitched into them with little forests in the backgrounds.

Poppy turned to Branch and saw him blush and rub his neck, "I made them."

Poppy stepped back to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, looking into his eyes seriously, "make me some."

"Uh, sure" Branch seemed weirded out by how serious she became over pillows, but his answer satisfied her and she plopped down on the picnic blanket before leaning against a pillow and sighing happily.

"They're really soft" Poppy commented as the grey troll sat down next to her.

"Thanks" Branch said awkwardly, then he noticed something in the distance, "right on time."

"Hmm?" Poppy looked to Branch for explanation, Branch simply gestured vaguely to something in front of them.

Poppy looked in the direction Branch had directed her to and found herself staring at a bright orange setting sun, which coloured the sky various shades of yellow, red and pink.

* * *

 _ **I normally don't do this at the ends of chapters but I wanted to be spoiler free. Copying and pasting for the Branch chapter for the readers that skip Poppy's (I know they're there).**_

 _ **Anyway, I'm unsure on whether I should write the full date out on the next two chapters or have a simple flashback and focus on everyone's reactions (by everyone I mean the snack pack's). Leave a review and tell me which you'd prefer. Don't worry, you wont miss out on the Broppy if you chose the latter.**_


	12. Branch 6

**Branch's perspective**

Branch nervously waited at the edge of the village where he'd told Poppy to meet him. He'd already set up the date spot, the food was safe in the picnic basket he'd left there, and Branch had arrived at the meeting area extra early. Now all he had to do was wait.

Honestly he couldn't believe he was doing this. The first date with Poppy was bad enough. Now? Now he was taking her out on one and they were going to be _alone_. He had less doubts about Poppy liking him, sure, but now he had to deal with her expectations. Branch wasn't a normal troll. He was grey, he didn't party, he didn't dance, he didn't...sing...Branch didn't want to disappoint her, but there was a lot of serenading in troll courtship, and the princess of the trolls would certainly be expecting it. The disappointment was inevitable...

He shouldn't be doing this.

Poppy could find someone else. It wouldn't be difficult for her. She would probably mate with Creek. Then they'd get married and Creek would be king, and they'd have a bunch of trollings, Poppy loved kids, Branch didn't doubt that she'd want more than the maximum four that trolls tried to stop at, and then Poppy would find out how bad Creek was with kids.

Branch snickered as he remembered catching Creek in the act of yelling at the little guys for interrupting his meditation, the trollings had completely ignored every unnecessary threat and climbed all over the purple troll. Branch decided to interrupt when Creek went to hit one of them.

Yeah, the heartache would suck, but that was nothing new, and seeing Creek being forced into caring for six or more trollings while Poppy did her duties as queen would be worth it.

Branch stood up and was about to leave when the pink troll skipped up to him and greeted him by kissing him on the cheek and grabbing his hand.

"So where are we heading?" Poppy smiled at him.

"Uh...actually..." Branch hesitated.

"Hmm?" Poppy cocked her head to the side cutely and waited patiently for him to continue.

Branch realised he couldn't give her up no matter how much it made sense.

"...actually...you wouldn't know where it is" Branch looked away.

"So, not your bunker then?" Poppy's expression gave away her surprise.

"What?" Branch's disbelief showed in his voice, "who would take anyone on a date in a bunker? Heck, who would take anyone on a date in their own home?"

"Creek tried to take me on a date once" Branch would have protested at the mention of Creek, but the amusement on Poppy's face told him to let this one slide, for the sake of the story, "he showed up at my pod and insisted I come with him on a date right that second, then he took me to his pod and we had lunch there. That was the entire date. No candles. No fancy food. Not even a tablecloth."

Branch tried to hold back his amusement. It came out as a snort.

"Of course Creep doesn't know anything about romance" Branch held back the rest of his laughter, suddenly his plans for the date didn't seem so bad.

Branch noticed that Poppy was trying to hide a smirk from Branch's 'mispronunciation' of the purple troll's name. Branch tried to hide his own satisfied smirk.

"Uh, come on" Branch began to lead her through the forest, doing his best to not pay attention to their still linked hands. They needed to get to their destination or Poppy would miss the main event.

Branch took notice that Poppy had no idea where they were when she began looking around, confused but curious. He resolved to not let her out of his sight. Who knew how many creatures would eat her before she died.

They reached the tree and Branch shot his hair up to the closest branch, Poppy quickly did the same and they pulled themselves up. As soon as their feet touched the wood, Poppy began to giggle.

Branch looked at her, confused, "what's so funny?"

"Branch! You're on a branch!" the amusement on Poppy's face grew, "Branch on a branch!"

Branch rolled his eyes and went up to the next branch. Branch. He was Branch and he was on a branch. DAMN IT NOW HE WAS DOING IT TOO!

Poppy quickly began to sing about branches. The song was obviously annoying on purpose, but the subject of the song amused him.

Why was him being on a branch so funny to him? It was just his name!

Amusement must be contagious, Branch concluded.

"As the Branches began to laugh~!" Branch missed the branch he was reaching for, he hadn't thought that Poppy had noticed.

Branch blushed a bit from both her noticing and him missing, and he quickly went ahead as Poppy stopped her song to laugh.

He made it to the picnic before Poppy did and gestured for the pink troll to come up, nervous to see her reaction.

Branch stepped back as she pulled herself up and stepped onto the branch. The nervousness faded at her surprised gasp. She stared at the picnic set up before spotting something on the other side of the branch. The flowers. He'd planned to give them to her later on in the night, but Branch was expecting some plans to be ruined, it was a date with Poppy after all.

Quickly Branch grabbed the flowers and brought them to her, holding them out for her to take, "they're poppy flowers."

Poppy blinked in surprise as she took them, "I thought they only came in red...?"

"Very few things in nature only come in one colour" Branch told her, shoving down the urge to list the exceptions.

"Wasn't the closest field really far away?" Poppy wondered, gently touching the petals of the flowers.

"Yep" Branch said proudly, it was a long walk and there's no way he wasn't going to brag, "I went to get them right after the party."

"So that's where you were yesterday morning?" Poppy looked up at him, when he nodded she looked back down again, "now I feel bad for sneaking into your bunker."

"You didn't before?" Branch asked, amused.

"Nope" Poppy laughed before walking up to him and kissing him on the cheek, "thank you Branch, I love them."

"No problem" Branch squeaked out, wondering if he'd ever get used to this. Poppy kissing him on the cheek _and_ thanking him?

He needed to give her more gifts.

"And I LOVE this set up!" Poppy turned to the picnic, gently placing down the flowers before jumping over to the pillows he'd brought, "and these pillows! Where did you get them? They're adorable!"

Poppy turned to him, actually waiting for an answer.

Branch blushed and rubbed his neck, "I made them."

Poppy stepped back to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, looking into his eyes seriously, "make me some."

"Uh, sure" seeing Poppy this serious about something was unnerving, the fact that it was for pillows didn't surprise him though. Now he knew what gifts to give her.

He wondered if she'd mind if he got a little creative with the designs or if he should stick to the design he has.

Best to do both just in case.

He had a long weekend of work ahead of him.

Poppy sat down on the picnic blanket and leaned back against a pillow as Branch joined her.

"They're really soft" Poppy commented.

"Thanks" Branch responded, not sure what else to say, then he looked up and noticed the position of the sun, "right on time."

"Hmm?" Poppy looked at him, Branch gestured to the sun.

She looked at the sun and Branch watched as her expression changed from confused to awestruck. Very few trolls could get high enough to watch the sunset like this.

* * *

 _ **I normally don't do this at the ends of chapters but I wanted to be spoiler free.**_

 _ **Anyway, I'm unsure on whether I should write the full date out on the next two chapters or have a simple flashback and focus on everyone's reactions (by everyone I mean the snack pack's). Leave a review and tell me which you'd prefer. Don't worry, you wont miss out on the Broppy if you chose the latter.**_


	13. Poppy 7

**Poppy's perspective**

Poppy couldn't believe this was happening. She'd just gone on the best date of her life, and now she was taking Branch back to her place. Granted it wasn't for the reason either of them expected. Honestly, she knew trolls got their hair tangled a lot during...heated moments, but to the point where you couldn't untangle it on your own? Poppy found it kind of funny, but kept her amusement to herself when she saw how embarrassed Branch was about it.

He seemed so anxious. Poppy frowned. Hopefully he'd quickly learn that the snack pack were trustworthy. They knew not to take things too far.

Although, with Branch, they wouldn't know how far 'too far' is. Poppy bit her lip. Hopefully the teasing wasn't too bad.

Without another thought, Poppy dragged Branch into her pod and grabbed the signal kazoo before blowing into it as hard as she could.

"What was that?" Branch questioned her, rubbing his ears in pain, Poppy felt bad, only just now remembering how sensitive his hearing was, "I thought we were going to get your friends?"

Before Poppy could reply, nine kazoos responded to her. Good. Everyone is coming.

"They're on their way" Poppy grinned to him, proud of her system. Branch liked complicated systems, didn't he?

Branch looked at Poppy's kazoo, then in the direction of the snack pack's kazoos, "wait, so that's some kind of signal?"

"Yep!" Poppy nodded, "Fuzbert's idea."

"Couldn't you get a quieter signal?" Branch frowned. Right. He didn't like loud things. Poppy resisted the urge to pout.

"Like what?" Poppy wondered. Maybe if she tried what he said, he would be happier.

"I don't know, torches maybe? I could teach you Morse code" Branch offered, "its silent and the chances of the light getting outside the village is slim to none."

"What's mores code?" Poppy asked curiously. She was a fast learner, he'd be so impressed!

"Morse code" Branch corrected, "it's hard to explain so I'll just show you."

Poppy watched as Branch tapped on the wall a few times before turning back to her.

"...wait, that was it?" Poppy blinked.

Branch groaned and tried explaining it to her instead, "its like a pattern, tapping it in a certain way can mean 'a' and tapping in a different way means 'b', basically you have to spell words out using patterns."

Poppy looked at Branch blankly. Okay, maybe she wasn't as fast of a learner as she thought.

Branch waved his hand in defeat, "I'll try and explain it later."

Poppy frowned, but before she could protest (she wasn't stupid! Branch just needed to explain it a certain way!) frantic knocking came from the front of her pod, indicating that the snack pack had arrived. Poppy went to answer them, dragging Branch along with her. Poppy took note of how Branch hid away from the future view of the snack pack.

"Hey guys!" Poppy happily greeted her friends.

"Poppy, is there an emergency?" Satin asked, worried.

"Uh, kinda" Poppy glanced to Branch and refused to let herself laugh, he seemed so scared of her friends, "it'd be best if you come inside."

Poppy let the snack pack in and made sure that Branch was out of their view so that he'd have a few more seconds to prepare himself.

"So what's up?" Cooper asked, making himself comfortable on the floor.

"So, Branch and I had a date a few minutes ago" Poppy began, the snack pack instantly started gearing up to questioning her about her date, but Poppy continued before they could speak, "aaaand we had a bit of...an accident."

Poppy then stepped to the side so everyone could see Branch and their tangled hair.

Everyone in the snack pack besides Creek, Suki and Guy Diamond tried to muffle their laughter. Poppy didn't even get a second to see Creek's reaction before Suki and Guy Diamond's loud choking laughter filled the room.

"Oh my god" Suki wheezed.

"Let me guess, you actually did kiss in the tree" Guy Diamond choked out.

Poppy blushed and looked between Branch, who was also blushing, and Guy Diamond in confusion, "how did you guys know we were in a tree?"

"How do you think he knew to bring a lot of fairy bread?" Suki grinned.

"He came to my pod to ask what kind of food you liked, we managed to get a fair few secrets out of him while he was there" Guy Diamond explained before noticing Branch's expression, "don't worry Branch, we promised we wouldn't say anything, didn't we?"

"Yep!" Suki nodded.

"This counts as saying things" Branch pointed out.

Poppy couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was that banter?

"Whoops" Guy Diamond and Suki playfully covered their mouths.

"So you're friends now?" Poppy finally asked.

Guy Diamond and Suki nodded, Branch said nothing. He didn't confirm it, but he didn't deny it, which was pretty much a confirmation in Branch language!

"Oh my gosh!" Poppy squealed, bouncing over and hugging Branch, "you didn't even agree to be my friend before I became your girlfriend, and you made two friends by yourself! This is amazing!"

Poppy gave Branch an excited kiss on the lips before turning to her friends who were also Branch's friends, "you two have to tell me everything!"

"Not everything" Branch said in a way that was probably supposed to be threatening, but the blush from her kiss kinda ruined it. Whoops.

"Wouldn't you want to get your hair untangled first?" Creek asked.

Poppy felt her hair tug a little and glanced to Branch in time to see him giving Creek a smug look. Poppy would have to do something about that.

"Right! Its such a mess!" Satin and Chenille quickly sat her and Branch down before getting to work on untangling their hair. The rest of the snack pack minus Creek plopped themselves down in front of the tangled up trolls. Creek excused himself, saying he needed to get home in time for his meditation before bed.

"So tell us how it went!" Suki prodded excitedly.

Poppy was more than happy to do the talking for Branch, "okay so remember how he gave me a sketch of a poppy flower on our first date? Well on this one he actually gave me real poppy flowers! From forever away! There's a purple one, a yellow one and a red one, and-" Poppy froze, she'd forgotten to bring the flowers! "Branch I left the flowers at the tree! What if something happens to them?!"

"Don't worry" Branch quickly reassured, "I have to go back to get my stuff anyway, I'll drop the flowers off on my way to the bunker."

Poppy sighed in relief while the snack pack cooed at Branch, "okay, so he gave me the flowers, then I saw some pillows set up for us and asked where he'd gotten them, because they're really cute, they have little trees on them, and apparently he made them! So I asked him to make me some and he agreed! Then we sat down and watched the sunset, we were high enough to see it right up until it was gone completely!" the snack pack let out awed 'wow's and Poppy nodded excitedly in agreement, "and then we ate, like Suki said, there was a lot of fairy bread, and we started to talk and he told me about-"

Poppy froze. Branch had told her about his grandmother, Rosiepuff, after Poppy had told him about her mother, Lilly. Branch hadn't told her how Rosiepuff had died, and of course Poppy didn't push it, but she wasn't sure if he was comfortable with her telling the snack pack about his dead grandma.

"-about the kind of trees we built our pods in! Yeah!" Poppy corrected herself, quickly continuing before the snack pack could point out her lie, "anyway! After a little while of talking about...trees, he kissed me!"

The best part of the date in Poppy's opinion.

Satin and Chenille stopped what they were doing and made sure they could see Poppy's face, "how long was the kiss?"

Poppy tried to remember. She wasn't really trying to keep track in the first place, but she couldn't even give an estimate.

"I lost track after the first minute" Poppy finally said.

"Over a minute" Satin grinned.

"Hey Branch!" Guy Diamond spoke up, "you're good at keeping track of time, how long was it?"

Everyone looked at Branch expectantly. Branch had his face covered with his hands, but from what Poppy could see, he was glowing bright purple, "...nine minutes and thirty-four seconds."

"Wow" the snack pack all said together. Poppy herself was surprised at how specific he was.

"Poppy, that's not a kiss" Chenille said to her.

"That's a full blown make out session" Satin giggled.

"Yeah, I kinda lost focus after he started using his hands" Poppy blushed. These conversations weren't uncommon among the snack pack when one of them was dating. Just that morning her and Suki were chatting about what her and Guy Diamond had gotten up to the night before. Trolls were pretty open about these things, but the snack pack was _especially_ open.

The girls in the group started giggling while the guys smirked at Branch.

"I knew you could do it!" Guy Diamond cheered.

"I guess we know why its so tangled now" Suki laughed, "you know trolls normally tie their hair up when things get to second base or higher."

"Okay, that's enough, Branch looks like he's about to try and strangle himself with his own hair" Guy Diamond helpfully pointed out.

The twins giggled and went back to untangling their hair. Branch looked like he was ready to die.

As soon as he was free, Branch bolted out of the pod. Poppy felt bad. She'd talk to him when he stopped by to drop off the flowers.

The snack pack chatted for a bit, but it didn't take long for them to leave.

Poppy cleaned up all the knotted hair the twins had brushed out then changed into her pyjamas. She was dozing off on the couch when she heard knocking at the front of her pod.

Poppy ran to answer it, and found herself not surprised when she saw it was Satin, Chenille, Suki and Smidge all dressed in their own pyjamas carrying pillows and snacks.

"Sleepover!"


	14. Branch 7

**Branch's perspective**

Branch had never felt so humiliated in all his life. He wanted to go into his bunker and stay there until all of his supplies ran out. Unfortunately, he couldn't do that until he and Poppy got a little help. And by help he meant scissors, but Poppy trusted her friends too much.

Poppy dragged him into her pod and grabbed a kazoo before loudly blowing into it, Branch's sensitive ears craved death.

"What was that?" Branch questioned, rubbing his ears in pain, "I thought we were going to get your friends?"

Before Poppy could reply, the sound of nine kazoos echoed through the pod.

"They're on their way" Poppy grinned.

Branch looked at Poppy's kazoo, then in the direction of where the other kazoos came from, "wait, so that's some kind of signal?"

"Yep!" Poppy said proudly, "Fuzbert's idea."

"Couldn't you get a quieter signal?" Branch frowned, now knowing why he heard so many kazoos a few times a week. The noise echoed throughout the village and out in to the forest far enough for it to be heard in the top levels of the bunker.

"Like what?" Poppy wondered.

"I don't know, torches maybe? I could teach you Morse code" Branch offered, "its silent and the chances of the light getting outside the village is slim to none."

"What's mores code?" Poppy asked, her face full of curiosity. The pink troll was always interested when it came to new things.

"Morse code" Branch corrected, "it's hard to explain so I'll just show you."

Poppy watched curiously as Branch tapped on the wall a few times before turning back to her and waiting expectantly.

"...wait, that was it?" Poppy blinked.

Branch groaned when he realised he'd have to explain it, "its like a pattern, tapping it in a certain way can mean 'a' and tapping in a different way means 'b', basically you have to spell words out using patterns."

Poppy looked at him blankly.

Branch waved his hand in defeat, "I'll try and explain it later."

The frantic knocking at the front of the pod told them that the snack pack had arrived, and Poppy quickly went to answer it. Branch awkwardly tried to stay out of view while also staying close to Poppy.

"Hey guys!" Poppy happily greeted them.

"Poppy, is there an emergency?" Satin was the first to speak up.

"Uh, kinda" Poppy's eyes flicked to Branch, her amusement showing, "it'd be best if you come inside."

Poppy let the snack pack in, standing in a way that blocked their view from Branch, allowing Branch to have a few more seconds to prepare himself for the embarrassment.

"So what's up?" Cooper asked, making himself comfortable on the floor.

"So, Branch and I had a date a few minutes ago" Poppy began, the snack pack's mood instantly changed as they geared up to start questioning her, but Poppy continued before they could ask anything, "aaaand we had a bit of...an accident."

With that, Poppy stepped to the side to reveal Branch and their tangled up hair.

Everyone in the snack pack besides Creek, Suki and Guy Diamond tried to muffle their laughter. Only Branch noticed Creek's face darken, but he was quickly distracted by Suki and Guy Diamond's loud choking laughs.

"Oh my god" Suki wheezed.

"Let me guess, you actually did kiss in the tree" Guy Diamond choked out.

Branch's face glowed bright purple.

Poppy was blushing too, but she looked between Branch and Guy Diamond, confused, "how did you guys know we were in a tree?"

"How do you think he knew to bring a lot of fairy bread?" Suki grinned.

"He came to my pod to ask what kind of food you liked, we managed to get a fair few secrets out of him while he was there" Guy Diamond explained before noticing Branch's warning glare, "don't worry Branch, we promised we wouldn't say anything, didn't we?"

"Yep!" Suki affirmed.

"This counts as saying things" Branch pointed out.

"Whoops" Guy Diamond and Suki covered their mouths, both of their eyes glinting in amusement.

"So you're friends now?" Poppy blinked in surprise.

Guy Diamond and Suki nodded, Branch remained silent.

"Oh my gosh!" Poppy squealed, bouncing over and hugging Branch, "you didn't even agree to be my friend before I became your girlfriend-"

Branch glowed bright purple and raised a finger in an attempt to point out they hadn't become official, but Poppy continued.

"-and you made two friends by yourself! This is amazing!" Poppy gave Branch an excited kiss on the lips before turning back to Guy Diamond and Suki, ignoring Branch's embarrassed squeak, "you two have to tell me everything!"

"Not everything" Branch attempted to say warningly, but his bright purple blush dulled anything threatening.

"Wouldn't you want to get your hair untangled first?" Creek asked, obviously disliking the sight of his crush's hair being tangled with Branch's.

Branch noticed Creek's expression and couldn't help but smugly tangle his hair with Poppy's a little more. The purple troll fumed.

"Right! Its such a mess!" Satin and Chenille instantly sat Branch and Poppy down and started to work on their hair while the snack pack sat down to make conversation and Creek left.

"So tell us how it went!" Suki prodded excitedly.

Branch blushed and let Poppy explain it.

"Okay so remember how he gave me a sketch of a poppy flower on our first date? Well on this one he actually gave me real poppy flowers! From forever away! There's a purple one, a yellow one and a red one, and-" Poppy froze, "Branch I left the flowers at the tree! What if something happens to them?!"

"Don't worry" Branch reassured, flinching when one of the twins gave an especially hard tug at his hair, "I have to go back to get my stuff anyway, I'll drop the flowers off on my way to the bunker."

The snack pack cooed at that, making Branch blush while Poppy sighed in relief before continuing her retelling of the date, "okay, so he gave me the flowers, then I saw some pillows set up for us and asked where he'd gotten them, because they're really cute, they have little trees on them, and apparently he made them! So I asked-"

Branch snorted at that, she'd stared him directly in the eye and demanded. Apparently the snack pack understood that without him even correcting her.

"-him to make me some and he agreed! Then we sat down and watched the sunset, we were high enough to see it right up until it was gone completely!" the snack pack let out awed 'wow's and Poppy nodded in agreement, "and then we ate, like Suki said, there was a lot of fairy bread, and we started to talk and he told me about-"

Poppy and Branch both froze, remembering how Branch had told her about his grandmother, Rosiepuff. Branch hadn't said anything specific about how she'd died, but he didn't want Poppy mentioning her to the snack pack. He hadn't even meant to tell her, but she'd started talking about her mother, Lilly, and Branch was suddenly telling her about Rosiepuff's cooking and the kind of songs she'd sung.

"-about the kind of trees we built our pods in! Yeah!" Poppy corrected herself, the snack pack looked at her in confusion but she quickly continued before they could ask about her obvious lie, "anyway! After a little while of talking about...trees, he kissed me!"

While grateful that she'd dodged the topic of Rosiepuff, he really wished she hadn't jumped straight to the kiss.

Satin and Chenille popped their heads around to see Poppy's face, "how long was the kiss?"

Poppy looked up, trying to remember. Branch covered his face in embarrassment.

"I lost track after the first minute" Poppy finally gave in.

"Over a minute?" Satin grinned.

"Hey Branch!" Guy Diamond spoke up, Branch hated him so much right now, "you're good at keeping track of time, how long was it?"

Branch refused to take his hands away from his bright purple face, "...nine minutes and thirty-four seconds."

"Wow" The entire snack pack said together.

"Poppy, that's not a kiss" Chenille said to her friend.

"That's a full blown make out session" Satin giggled.

Branch wanted to die. Why did they have to focus on the kiss of all things.

"Yeah, I kinda lost focus after he started using his hands" Poppy blushed.

The girls in the group started giggling while the males all smirked at Branch.

"I knew you could do it!" Guy Diamond cheered.

Branch would happily call a bergen over, walk into it's hands, and ask to be eaten. He silently begged Poppy to stop talking.

"I guess we know why its so tangled now" Suki laughed, "you know trolls normally tie their hair up when things get to second base or higher."

"Okay, that's enough, Branch looks like he's about to try and strangle himself with his own hair" Guy Diamond helpfully pointed out.

The twins giggled and went back to untangling Branch and Poppy's hair.

After a few more minutes Branch was free and he ran out of the pod so fast he'd almost tripped.


End file.
